Ontario abandoned places

By Jennifer Pagliaro City Hall Bureau Sat., Jan. 12, 2019 It was meant to be a place for the people. But Ontario Place was also conceived with a bit of hubris in mind. It also was built without building permits. The idea was first pitched by then Progressive Conservative premier John Robarts in August 1968 as a new exhibition space for the province — an expanded Canadian National Exhibition — in response to Expo 67, which had just concluded to great acclaim for Montreal, which was rivalling Toronto as a cultural jewel. Robarts, who was opening the Ex that day, the Star reported, called the province’s vision in part a “major new recreational complex for the use of the people of Ontario.” The project would see the CNE open longer; it would include water elements like those at Expo and replicate the success of Ontario’s pavilion at the recently concluded world fair, he said. It would reflect the same “mood of gaiety and … [Read more...] about From the beginning, Ontario Place was about the future

By Rob Ferguson Queen's Park Bureau Tues., Aug. 14, 2018 Private cannabis stores are the right way to take on the black market once pot becomes legal because heavy consumers would prefer to buy their weed from private dispensaries over government-owned stores, says Finance Minister Vic Fedeli. Citing a government study that found 70 per cent of the heaviest pot users would prefer private over public options, Fedeli told reporters Tuesday, “If we’re going after the illegal market, this is why we’ll do it this way.” On Monday, the new Progressive Conservative government scrapped the defeated Liberal administration’s plan for up to 150 government-owned retail stores by 2020 after pot becomes legal on Oct. 17. Private stores are slated to begin opening by April next year, although the government has not decided on a number of outlets or set criteria that retailers must meet to be granted licences. Those details will be hammered out … [Read more...] about Privately run cannabis stores are best way to curb black market, Ontario Tories say

By Michael Lewis Business Reporter Tues., Aug. 14, 2018 Canadian pot stocks retreated early Tuesday after Ontario’s Conservative government said it will delay the start of bricks-and-mortar recreational marijuana sales — although some in the industry say they can use the extra time. “We would have been very pleased to open our first stores on Oct. 17, but we don’t feel disadvantaged to have to wait until April 1. We now have more time to engage with the markets and consumers through educational experiences that will help build excitement leading into the launch date,” said Heather MacGregor, communications director at Edmonton-based Aurora Cannabis Inc. Jo Vos, managing director of Leafly Canada, a cannabis website information resource, applauded the government’s move to allow sale in Ontario of non-medical cannabis to adults through the private sector, but said more time is needed to set up a retail framework and … [Read more...] about Cannabis stocks rattled by Ontario rule changes

By Star Editorial Board Mon., July 9, 2018 So Doug Ford has wasted no time delivering on some of his campaign promises — and so much more — since he became Ontario’s premier just over a week ago. That’s a good thing right? Wrong. It is bad enough that Ford made off-the-cuff promises without a thought-through platform during the election campaign. But now he’s demonstrating that he plans to implement those misguided decisions at break-neck speed without the benefit of study or consultation. His first act in government, for example, was to deep-six the province’s cap-and-trade system with Quebec and California. That not only leaves businesses that invested in the program grappling with uncertainty, it will cost taxpayers big time. First, it appears the government will have to pay back the almost $3 billion that businesses invested in the environmental program. And on Wednesday the federal government announced that Ontario … [Read more...] about Doug Ford’s first acts as Ontario premier are worrisome

By John Lorinc SPECIAL TO THE STAR Sun., March 18, 2018 One evening this month, about 40 people gathered in the temporary St. Lawrence North Market tent to participate in a very contemporary exercise in local democracy that focused on the earliest chapter of Upper Canada’s local democracy. Their task: cajole the historical narratives out of the so-called First Parliament site, an unprepossessing piece of downtown real estate that has had a front-row seat for every chapter of the city’s meandering story. In a briskly paced presentation, Dima Cook, a heritage conservation planner with EVOQ Architecture, ran through the wildly disparate succession of increasingly urbanized uses of a block bounded by Berkeley, Front and Parliament Sts. Indigenous settlements gave way to Upper Canada’s first parliament buildings, then a Dickensian mid-19th century jail, a sprawling brick gasworks and finally the mishmash of gas stations, car washes and parking lots that … [Read more...] about The remains of Ontario’s first parliament are buried and long forgotten in downtown Toronto. Now citizens are helping to tell its story